May 11, 2015

The ReeDWOODER, Vol 226, May 2015

Presidents Message

Tony Mustaro

Dear Friends,

Although the turnout was much smaller than we had hoped for at the pasta feed before last month’s meeting, those who came for dinner were enjoyed the food provided and for that reason we have decided to do it again for the month of June. I am posting this well in advance of the June meeting so that as many people as possible will be aware of this upcoming event. It’s a lot of work to plan, shop, cook and serve a good meal for a large number of people so we are hoping for better support and a larger number of diners at the June dinner. It would be a great help if you would contact me by phone or email and let me know if you are coming so that I can plan on how much food to prepare.

Welcome to our two new officers: Kris Nelson – Vice President, and Diana Santi – Treasurer, and to our two new board members: Steve Albini and Art Clark. Steve and Kris are both also past ACR Presidents.

Once again many thanks to John Pordon our retiring Treasurer, Jan Terribilini our retiring board member and Steve Balich Sr. our retiring Vice President. These are the folks whose hard work and dedication over the years are responsible for the creation and the survival of our club. We hope to see them at the meetings for many years to come enjoying the fruits of their labor and having a well-deserved rest.

Kudos to our own John Pordon who last month was awarded the Medal of the Legion of Honor from the French government for his service to France as a US Army Infantryman in World War II. Please see details elsewhere in this issue.

I would also like to invite our friends from Hermann Sons Petaluma Lodge to attend our meetings which take place on the third Monday of each month when we are not having a special event such as a dinner dance. We usually have very good entertainment during these meetings and the boring business part is kept to a bare minimum. The fun band plays starting at 6:30 PM and plays for an hour. The evenings entertainers usually start to play around 7:45 PM. After the musical portion of the meeting we put out something to eat so you will not leave hungry. If you would like to receive information on our meetings and events we would be happy to send it to you via email. I will try to arrange for an sign-up sheet in the hallway where you can register your email address.

Marjorie Konrad informs me that we will have three of our scholarship students performing for us at the May meeting. They will each perform three numbers.

On an unhappy note, our sincere condolences to Caroline Murphy and her family and friends on the loss of our friend Thomas Murphy.

Hope to see all of you at the May meeting and the June dinner.

Tony Mustaro

President
Accordion Club of the Redwoods

April Dinner Meeting

Click slide of April Dinner Meeting

Club News

Happy 98th Birthday Al Gardi on Tax Day, April 15th

The ACR Band will have its next meeting on May 18, 2015, 6:30 PM before the ACR general meeting at 7:30 PM. All levels of players are welcome. It helps if you can read sheet music. Bring an accordion and a good measure of enthusiasm. If you would like to play in the band, please contact Xavier de la Prade at

707-769-9880 or at zavyay@gmail.com.

A heads up, we have another $8 Pasta Feed for our June 15 meeting. I hope we have a better turn out this time!

THOMAS MURPHY OBITUARY

MURPHY, Thomas Lawrence Passed away in Freestone, CA, March 24, 2015. A native of Bethel, Connecticut. Age 95 years. He was the beloved husband of Caroline Mann Murphy for 68 years, loving father of Patrick Betty, deceased T. Murphy of Alturas, Ellen Ray C. Gianoli of Palo Cedro and Sean Pattie S. Murphy of Freestone. Grandfather of 11, great-grandfather of 15, and great-great-grandfather of four; uncle of numerous nieces and nephews; brother-in-law of Doris Guy Mann, Freestone, Lois and Nick Schaeffer, Crowheart, Wyoming, and Carol James Murphy, Bethel, CT; has cousins in the eastern U.S., and Tommy and Joseph Murphy of Co. Cavin, Ireland. Preceded in death by three sisters and four brothers. A Sonoma County resident since 1946, Tommy was a journeyman machinist, leadman, and foreman, retired United Air Lines. During World War II he was stationed at Santa Rosa Naval Air Station, meeting Caroline at Midway Dance Hall. He was co-founder and Fire Chief of the Freestone Volunteer Fire Dept. for many years. He was a member of St. Teresa of Avila Catholic Church in Bodega and an enthusiastic member of the Accordion Club of the Redwoods and the Five Valley Accordion Club, Hamilton, Montana. He was a man of integrity, inventiveness, and helpfulness. He relished flying, trout fishing, and playing accordion Due to the love and generosity of family, friends, neighbors, and care-givers, after a stroke nearly two years ago, Tommy was able to remain at the home he built with Caroline. The family thanks you all. Visitation was held, Friday, April 10. Our very own Bart Beninco played at his memorial.

JOHN PORDON – LEGION OF HONOR

Tuesday, April 21, 2015, eight American veterans of World War II received the medal of the Legion of Honor from the hands of Pauline Carmona, Consul of France in San Francisco, at the Residence of France.

John PORDON joined the US Army in March 1944 at the age of 18 years. As a truck driver in the 222nd Infantry Regiment, John participated in several battles on the French territory against the German armies in northern France in 1944 and 1945.

John was wounded at Cherbourg in December 1944, and was awarded, among others, the Purple Heart Medal, the Combat Infantryman Badge, the Good Conduct Medal, the European African Middle Eastern campaign medal, the Army of Occupation Medal and the WWII Victory Medal.

APRIL ENTERTAINMENT

Bart’s playlist was beautiful as always. He started with “Joe Chiesa’s Carousel,” then with “Margie,” “Tango of Roses,” “Tico Tico,” “Elephant Walk,” and finally with “Arriva Derci Roma.” As usual, Bart, your music is beautiful!

Wow, I started getting writer’s cramps trying to keep up with this guy’s playlist. Were it not for those around me, Carola and Annette, I would not have made it. Guy started with “You’re Just Too Good to Be True,” then “When You Are Smiling,” a Mazurka, “Under Paris Skies,” “Blue Bayou,” “Putting on the Ritz,” “You Are the Cream in My Coffee,” “The Boogie Woogie Man,” and wound up his performance with “Tango Por Una Cabeza.” Wow, just wow!

When you think it could not get any better, Steve and Jim brought it on. Steve started out with “East of the Sun, West of the Moon,” then “Besame Mucho,” “The Way You Look Tonight,” a neopatani song Pasioni, (from a private collection of Frances Ford Coppola’s) a Salsa – an original piece, “Beyond the Sea,” “Look at the Moon,” and “Brazil.” There were a few others that I could not spell and did not know. What a night, a pasta dinner and great music for $8, how can you miss that?

Filed Under: May 2015, Newsletter

April 15, 2015

The ReeDWOODER, Vol. 225, April 2015

Presidents Message

Tony Mustaro
Dear Friends,

I want to get this month’s bulletin out in time to inform everyone of the pasta feed at this month’s meeting, so this will be a rather short message. I would like to thank all of you who turned out to support our annual Spring Fling. It was a very good event with much better attendance than we’ve had for for past few dinner dances we’ve sponsored. Please think about who you can encourage to attend our annual Christmas dinner dance to make our next event even bigger.

Our thanks to the members of Hermann Sons Lodge who turned out to support the event and to Lynne Ewing and Elaine Cooperstein, both officers of the San Francisco Accordion Club for their attendance. We hope to see more members of the Hermann Sons Lodge at our monthly meetings to enjoy some music and have a snack with us. We are also planning cooperative activities between the San Francisco club and ACR. A very big thank you to the volunteers who worked so hard on this event. Jane and Frank Tripi, Carola and Art Clark, Annette Cassabonne, Marilyn Sylvestri, Jan Terribilini, Diana and Ivano Santi, Phil and Cheri Marcucci, Xavier de la Prade, Kris Nelson, Olga Kinder, Elmo Fama, Denise French and The Steve Balich Band.

I would also like to let everyone know that at our regular dinner dances the first table on the left as you face the stage is always reserved for the band and the kitchen staff. This year we had an incident where Frank and Jane were told that they could not sit at that table because seats were being saved for friends yet to arrive. Please be aware of for whom this table is set aside and be respectful of the people who work to make the event a success.

A special thank you to Nancy Pordon for stepping in and helping with all of the work that John has usually done in the past.

This month we a having a pasta feed. So I hope to see a large turnout for the meeting. We also have some great entertainment lined up for the April meeting. So turn out , have a good meal and take part in our annual election of officers and board members.

We have some new names appearing on the ballot this year, which you will discover elsewhere in this Reedwooder. Our sincere thanks to retiring officers and board members for their many years of devoted service. These folks have kept the club alive. See you at the April meeting.

Tony Mustaro

President
Accordion Club of the Redwoods

Club Entertainment

Click slide show for pictures of Spring Fling

Filed Under: April 2015, Newsletter

February 15, 2015

ReeDWOODER, Vol 223, January 2015

Presidents Message

Tony Mustaro
Dear Friends,

The big event at this time is our annual Spring Fling dinner dance. This is a great evening of visiting, eating delicious food from Lombardi Caterers, drinking excellent wine by Marcucci Farms, and dancing to great dance music by the Steve Balich Band all for the amazingly low price of $25 per person. There are no other entertainment bargains like this anywhere in the North Bay. I have never spoken with anyone who attended one of these events who didn’t have a great time and appreciate the quality of the music, food and drink.

As you know this is one of our two major fund raisers for the year so please support your club by attending and bringing a guest or two to show them something about our club. You do not have to be a member of the ACR to attend this function. You just need an eye for a real entertainment bargain and the desire to have a good time. Please get your reservations in early as we need a count for the caterer sooner rather than later.

Those of you who attended the general meeting last month know that our own Bart Beninco was back to play for us again. Bart gave a wonderful performance as usual and we look forward to hearing him play for us again as soon as he can. We also had some great entertainment from George Simko who was here visiting from Texas. George gave us a great set on his own and then invited yours truly up to play some duets, and Kris Nelson joined us on vocals. Good times. Susannah Leon, who gets better every time we hear her and Arthur Seebach our Irish music specialist rounded out the evenings entertainers.

I have been speaking with Nancy Pordon and learned that John, our Tireless Treasurer has not been up to par. John missed our general meeting last month for the FIRST time since he has been a member. He underwent a surgical procedure a few days ago, and from what I hear everything went well. We’re looking forward to seeing John’s smiling face at the meetings again soon. Some of us will try to take up the slack in the tremendous amount of work that John does on behalf of the club, but it won’t be easy. You can send greetings and cards to his address in Sonoma where you send your dinner dance reservations. I think that a large turnout for this event next month will go a long way to bring a smile to his face. Get well soon John, we miss you.

Again I will remind you that yearly elections are coming up soon. Some of the Board members will not be standing for reelection this year so we are in need of members willing to run for these vacant spots. Please contact me or any other officer or board member for more information regarding running for office.

Tony Mustaro

President
Accordion Club of the Redwoods

Club Entertainment

Susannah Leon

Susannah just keeps getting better. She delighted us with “Snow Flake Walt,” “Away in a Manger,” “Silver Bells,” and “Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer.”

Arthur Seebach

Arthur delighted with his love for the Irish tunes of “Man of the House,” “King of the Ferries,” and “The Flat Bush Waltz.” It is always a delight to hear from Art.

Bart Benico

Bart, our soul man of the accordion, entertained us with “Le Seine,” “The Red River Valley,” “Tango of the Rose,” “Arriva Derci Roma,” “Catata Romana,” “Baby Elephant Walk,” and wrapped it up with “Tico Tico.” It is quite a gem we have in Bart!

George Simko

George dazzled us with so many: I had a hard time writing listening and taking pictures. He started with “Shall We Dance?” “West Falia Waltz,” “Waltz Across Texas with Me,” and a medley of “Texas Plain,” “Yellow Rose of Texas,” “San Antonio Rose,” and “Deep in the Heart of Texas.” He finished off his solo with “Blue Tango” and “Allegany Moon.”

Duet of Tony and George

Next we had a duet with Tony and George playing “Three Caballeros (Jalisco),” “Spanish Eyes,” “Only One Time,” “Solamente Uno Vez,” and “Up the Lazy River.”

The Fabulous Trio of Kris, Tony and George

After that, we had a trio with Kris, Tony, and George. With Kris singing “Your Cheating Heart.” Then back to the duet of Tony and George wrapping up with “Frau Lein,” and “Beer Barrel Polka.”

What a night; great entertainment and food. For THREE DOLLARS, you cannot beat that.

Click slide show for more pictures of Jammers and Audience

Spring Fling

Saturday March 28 2015 click form below to see flyer ACR Spring Fling.

Filed Under: February 2015, Newsletter

January 22, 2015

ReeDWOODER, Vol 222, December 2014 – January 2015

The Presidents Message

Dear Friends,

Here we are at the beginning of a brand new year. I would like to wish all of you a very happy, prosperous, and healthy new year. Thank you to all of the officers, board members, and other volunteers who donate their time and efforts to keep this club running. It would be wonderful if this year we could enlarge this group of people in an effort to keep the club healthy and moving forward.

On the horizon we have our annual Spring Fling dinner dance. Please remember that this event is not only a opportunity to gather socially to share a nice meal, converse, and dance to some live music. It is one of the few fund raising events of the year for our club. Unfortunately our club has lost money on the last two fund raisers due to less than optimal attendance. This could be turned around and make these events profitable again if each attendee would bring another friend or relative along to enjoy the evening and support our treasury. Obviously, there is a limit to how long we can continue to lose money on such events. We are one of the few remaining venues providing live dance music in a family friendly environment. If you would like to see us continue to do so, we need your active support.

Please keep this in mind in regard to the Spring Fling in March. We are also planning a club dinner (food served to be decided) at the monthly meeting for the month of April, so please put this on your calendar. April is also election month. We will be electing officers and board members for the coming year. If you would like to take an active part in steering your club and you feel that you have ideas which would have a positive impact, please put your name forward for nomination. Contact me or any of the other officers or board members to do this.

Our friend George Simko will be our featured entertainer for the January meeting. We always have a good time when George is here. Please come out and support the musicians who are generous enough with their time to come entertain us. This is important if you want to continue to have good quality entertainment at the meetings. A good attendance makes it much easier for me to book good entertainment.

In closing I would like to ask you to remember our members with ongoing health problems and the many friends and supporters whom we have lost in the past year in your thoughts and prayers.

Tony Mustaro

President
Accordion Club of the Redwoods

News, December 2014 – January 2015

Christmas Dinner dance photos

Yes, Virginia…There is a Santa Claus

And his name is Steven Gatti. Steven was the donor of five poinsettias and an azalea which suddenly appeared at our recent dinner/dance. Steven was also thoughtful enough to donate a $50.00 check to our Scholarship Fund. The poinsettias and the azalea were a welcome, colorful addition to our stage. We appreciate his generosity by adding these gifts to our event….and yes, there is a Santa Claus and his name is Steven Gatti.

Entertainment

Carlo Solivan

Jim Lehman

Steve Albini

And the Fabulous Trio

Wow, what a night! This trio brought down the house, unfortunately, the house was very small. The food was great and plentiful, but the music was outstanding!

I thank Tony for keeping track of the playlist as I was too busy clapping and taking pictures. The playlist was “The Way You Look Tonight,” “Nature Boy,” “Guaglione,” “Besame Mucho,” “Fly Me to the Moon,” “Parla Piu Piano,” “Quando, Quando, Quando,” “Con Te Partiro,” “East of the Sun,” “The Girl from Ipanema,” “Marina,” “Autumn Leaves,” “Sway,” and “Al Di La.” When they come back, you must show up; they are the greatest.

Obituary

Mike Sarkisian

Services for Mike Sarkisian
January 30, 11:30 AM prompt

Veterans Cemetery Dixon,
5810 Midway Rd, Dixon CA 95620

Obituary

Yves Casabonne

Yves Gregoire Casabonne
Feb. 19, 1936 – Nov. 21, 2014

Yves Gregoire Casabonne, 78, died peacefully in San Francisco November 21, 2014. Yves was the beloved husband of Annette and very proud father of Daniel. He did it his way. He was dancing the polka on Sunday night, he worked in the yard on Monday and Tuesday, and that night he had a massive stroke. Two days later he was gone.A native of Arette (Pyrenees Atlantique) France. He arrived in San Francisco in 1959 to pursue the American Dream. Never afraid of hard work, long hours, and taking chances by looking forward with different ideas, he achieved all of his goals. Yves started from scratch four different successful businesses in San Francisco, Redwood City, and Saratoga. After retiring from the retail business that Annette and Yves ran together for 20 years in Saratoga, he felt like he was too young to really retire. That is when he got the idea to purchase his favorite dance hall, Little Switzerland in Sonoma. That was the beginning of another chapter in his life and perhaps some of his happiest times.Yves and Annette celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary earlier this year and were planning a trip to France to visit family and friends.He had a love of cars, polka dancing (Little Switzerland-Sonoma), and he was always willing to try new things…..last year while on vacation in Mexico he went parasailing along the coast, did the zip cord through the jungle, swam with the dolphins, and petted sting rays. He loved wheeling and dealing. Three days a week he would be found at various flea markets from San Jose, Santa Cruz to Concord buying things that he didn’t need but he just couldn’t pass up because he was able to get a good deal.Survived by sisters Rosette (Pierre), Jacqueline (Jean Louis) and brother-in-law Emile Bourdet (Sandra) and many nieces, nephews, and cousins in France and in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Spring Fling

Saturday March 28 2015 click form below to see flyer ACR Spring Fling.

Filed Under: December 2014 - January 2015, Newsletter

November 17, 2014

ReedWOODER, Vol. 221, November 2014

The Presidents Message

Dear Friends

I would like to start out this month’s message with some well-deserved thank yous to the members who supported out booth at the Rootstock Italian Festival in Santa Rosa last month. They are (in alphabetical order) Ann Albertoni, George Bachich, Frank Divita, Elmo Fama, Kris Nelson and Carlo Solivan. Thanks to these folks generously donating their time and talent our club made a very good impression on the eight hundred or so people who attended the first occurrence of this annual event. I was hoping for a better turnout from the club’s general membership, but maybe we can remedy that next year.

Those of you who attended our October meeting and Gumbo feed had a very good meal and some very good entertainment as well. I would like to thank Annette, Jane, and Sterling for their hard work in serving the meal and cleaning up after the meal. Kris, our chef, also worked as part of the clean-up crew. Our entertainers last month were Joe Chiesa, Frank Divita, Guy Richards, and Steve Balich (Jr.) All of the comments that I heard about the meeting were positive and I hope that you will let all of the volunteers at the festival and the gumbo feed know that you appreciate their efforts on behalf of our club. With entertainment like this I can’t understand why our meetings aren’t always packed to capacity.

This month’s meeting will continue with more great entertainers. For our November meeting the featured performers will be Steve Albini on accordion, Jim Lehman on drums and Carlo Solivan on vocals, so once again we are in for an evening of fun and great music. You can let these musicians who donate so generously of their time how much you appreciate their efforts by attending the meetings and encouraging your friends, relatives and fellow ACR members to attend the monthly meetings. A good turnout and an appreciative audience is all that they ask in exchange for entertaining us and we certainly owe this to them. If we cannot provide this, I find it very difficult to ask musicians to perform for us.

As you know, next month is our annual Christmas Dinner Dance. There will be great food and wine again this year and great dance music from the Steve Balich Band. Please get your reservations in early. As you know this is now a catered event and as we no longer have the luxury of in house cooking from Donald and Steve we have to give the head count to the caterer ahead of time. Hope to have a good turnout this year and look forward to seeing you and your friends and family there to enjoy this annual holiday event.

In closing I want to send get well and hurry back wishes to Jan Terribilini. Hope to see you at the November meeting Jan.

Tony Mustaro

President
Accordion Club of the Redwoods

News, November 2014

October meeting and Gumbo feed

The Chef and his crew that made this happen.

Entertainment

Joe Chiesa

Joe was in great form that night. He wowed us with “Quando – Quando,” “My Shawl (a Xavier Cugat theme song),” “New York New York,” “Bella,” “Mia Caninol” and “I Just Called to Say I Love You” Great Job Joe.

Frank Divita

Steve Balich Jr.

Frank played his usual greats. It was a bit hard to keep up with his numbers but here is what I got. “Iupali Iupali,” “The Lady is a Tramp,” “Sentimental Journey,” “Chesarima ( a mazurka),” and “Aristide.” It is always a pleasure to hear Frank.

Guy Richards

Guy is a hard one to follow. He goes rapidly from one song to the next. Here is what I got and I hope I got it straight. “Stars Fell on Alabama,” “Hello Dolly,” “O’ Sole Me,” “When You are Smiling,” “Marina Marina,” “La Cumsasita ( tango),” “Jumba Laya,” “Iupali Iupali,” and so many more. Guy was outstanding as usual.

Steve Balich Jr.

Steve played easy listening and dance music. His playlist was easy to follow. I would sneak up and look at the sheet music for the titles. You probably did not know that I could read sheet music. His list was “The New York Polka,” “Westphalia Waltz (Westphalia is a German state),” “Sioux City Sue,” “I’m Dreaming” “Domani,” “Quando Quando,” “Bachiniari” and “Hermuno Carino.” Great as usual Steve, and the dancers will agree!

Obituary

Leo’s wife Marcella J. Tastsides, 87 of Vallejo, passed away Sunday, Oct. 19, at the Kaiser Hospital of Vallejo. Marcella was born on Wednesday, Feb. 9, 1927 in Ely Minnesota. Marcella had been a Vallejo Resident since 1951. She is survived by her son, Michael; four grand-children; five great grandchildren; nieces and nephews.

Filed Under: Newsletter, November 2014

October 5, 2014

The Presidents Message

Dear Friends

I hope that you were here to listen to our special guest performer, Alicia Baker, at last month’s meeting. If you weren’t, you missed something really special and if you were you know what I mean. If you did miss Alicia’s performance, several of the members purchased her CDs so maybe you can find a friend who will share her music with you.

There are lots of activities going on this month for the Accordion Club of the Redwoods and its membership. First off, Kris Nelson will be cooking his famous GUMBO for our next meeting on October 20. I will be once again serving as his sous chef, so if you really enjoyed the meal last time you have another opportunity to really enjoy it again. Let’s try to have a good turnout for this event before the weather turns colder and the meeting time turns darker.

In addition to this our club is sponsoring a booth and a performance stage at the Italian (Rootstock) Festival on Sunday October 12 at Santa Rosa Vintner’s Square 1301 Cleveland Avenue (Between College Avenue and Steele Lane). This event replaces the Festa Italiana which in the past has been held at the Santa Rosa Veterans Building. Performers from the club who will be playing on our stage are: George Bachich, Joe Chiesa, Keith Church, Elmo Fama, and Stanko Pecavar and yours truly. We would like to see more of our members performing here for the public. If you would be willing to share your music for the benefit of the club please contact me and I will schedule you to play. If you don’t want to play but are willing to assist in setting up the booth and manning the booth please contact me as well. This is a great opportunity to promote our club to the general public to help insure that it will continue even after we are gone.

This festival should be a great deal of fun. There are several great musicians playing here on the main stage also: Steve Albini and Tatiana Seminastchaya, (Las Vegas and Cotati Accordion Festival, among many other venues) Carlo Solivan, The Coro Allegro, and a surprise wonderful female vocalist who will amaze you. Italian food and drink will be available and there will be a grape stomp for the youngsters as well as many vendors.

Hope to see many of you there. This is another chance to support your club so please take advantage of it.

Tony Mustaro

President
Accordion Club of the Redwoods

Filed Under: Newsletter, October 2014

October 4, 2014

News, October 2014

Arthur Seebach

Arthur after a little coaxing and arm twisting, played “Irish – Man of the House (reel)”. Arthur is partial to the Irish and we are glad for the cultural input.

Janet Farris

I chose SHADOW BOXING because it was the third of the John Gart songs on my itinerary. Gart was an accomplished player and composer who never achieved the recognition he merited. He was born in Poland in 1905, and was an established musician at the age of 7. He discovered the accordion in 1931, but he was primarily a radio/TV organist for the next 30 years. He was a founding member of the AAA in the late 1930’s, but even then he was absent for the group photo. His SNOWTRAIN SHUFFLE will always be a favorite of mine, and a lot of other accordionists. The theme from PICNIC was chosen because it’s a beautiful arrangement by Gary Dahl. I never got into Dahl music until after the passing of Frank Marocco. As Marocco finished a composition, I immediately started playing it, and my attention was always to his music. With no more new music from Marocco, I turned to Gary Dahl’s compositions because I had never really experimented with his arrangements. I can still buy them online, so am constantly trying something new by him or what is new to me. It keeps my interest up that way.

Tony Mustaro and George Simko

Tony and George teamed up as a duo and played and sang “I Wonder Why”, “Echoes of Vienna” and finished with “Valger Allegro”. What a Treat, keep them coming!

Alicia Baker

Accordion Pickin’ Polka – This is just one of my favorite polkas. I love starting my program off with a polka to start with high energy, and this one does the trick!

Rivalite and Sul le ciel de Paris Medley – I would play all musettes for my program if I could. =) So I always program a fair amount of them in my concerts. I found that by making little medleys, it’s a nice way to get a variety of different musettes in one go. I learned Rivalite at a young age, and it still has such a beautiful melody in my mind. I chose Sul le ciel de Paris because it’s so widely known, and I love when the audience can connect to my music since they’ve heard it before.

Santa Lucia – This is my favorite Italian folk song that I’ve come across so far in my learning. It has a simple, beautiful melody and the lyrics are lovely.

La Vie en Rose – This is my favorite french folk song. It’s fun to play, it’s fun to sing, and it’s so well known that it always pleases the crowd.

Joss’s Song – This is a newer piece to me, having learned it just a couple months ago. I love listening to jazz, and this piece really caught my attention the first time I heard it! It has some tricky chord progressions, providing a neat opportunity for cool improvisation, and I love the quick bossa beat.

Take Five (looper – end of jazz set) – I chose this piece strictly because I was playing the Roland. I love using the looper feature, and TakeFive is perfect for creating a little backing track and then improvising on top. Plus, it’s a joy to play!

Reine de Musette – Xavier asked me to play this piece, having heard Michael Bridge and I perform it in Vegas. I was happy to add it to my program, as it has been one of my favorites for many years now!

Meadow Land – I included this piece so that I could share a bit of what I worked on for the Coupe Mondiale, the World Championship of accordion. It’s an exciting piece, as it is essentially a theme and variations on a famous Russian melody. I love the drama of the tempo changes and speedy ending.

O Mio Babbino Caro – I wanted to sing some opera, so of course I had to do this classic! It’s a beautiful aria that people connect with.

Pretzel Polka – I chose to play this polka because it is my original composition. I like to try to share some of what goes on in my head – so this is a good way to do that!

After You’ve Gone – This is another jazz standard that I’ve always loved. I heard an awesome arrangement of it, and once I got my handson the sheet music, I learned it right away! It’s lively with difficult/cool runs, and I love to play it!

Blue Paris Waltz – This piece was composed by my favorite player, Ludovic Beier. When he sent me a bunch of his original compositions, I was ecstatic! This one stood out to me, and I learned it first. I like including one of his pieces since he’s been such an inspiration to me.

C’est si Bon – I love the old-fashioned nature of this little song. I’m obsessed with the French language (even though I don’t speak it..), so I love to learn as many French songs as I can.

O Sole Mio – This is such a well-known, popular Italian folk song, that I like to include it in my programs for the audience. I also really enjoy singing the chorus.

Skinny’s Polka – I wanted to finish with a polka, because it’s such a fun way to go out! I learned this polka about 7 years ago, and it’s been one of my favorites ever since. I love the funky A-section, with the flying runs.

Cumana – I thought this would be a good encore because it’s short, fast, exciting, and fun!

Filed Under: Newsletter, October 2014

September 11, 2014

The Presidents Message

Dear Friends

Please take note and tell your friends that the monthly ACR meeting has changed from the third Monday to the fourth Monday for this month only. Remember that the September 2014 meeting will take place on Monday September 22, 2014. The reason for the change is so that we can book Alicia Baker as our principal entertainer for the month of September. She was not available for the third Monday date. Whether or not you’ve seen and heard Alicia sing and play you are in for a musical treat. She sings beautifully and is an amazingly talented musician whether she is playing piano, her Borsini accordion or her Roland V Accordion. This is a rare appearance here in the North Bay so invite friends and relatives to come experience the music of this talented performer.

Another bit of good news that I learned this week is that our Vice President, Steve Balich has returned home from his period of convalescence. I know that Steve is very happy to be back home with Jennie and the rest of his family. I am hoping that he will be at the September meeting as well.

I wish that I could give you more good news in this message but sadly I have two other pieces of very sad news to convey to the membership. We have lost two more of our own. It is with great regret that I tell you of the passing of Kay Newburg and Donald Agresti.

Kay along with her husband Tom was a founding member of the Accordion Club of the Redwoods. She and Tom have often entertained us with their Austrian button box duets, and Kay was also blessed with a great singing voice which she shared with us from time to time as well. Heartfelt condolences go out to Tom and all of her many friends and family members. Memorial service details appear elsewhere in this issue.

Donald was our resident/guest chef for most of our dinner dances, picnics and pasta feeds. I use the term resident/guest because Donald would drive all the way from his American Hog Farm ranch in Ceres (a Hog, Cattle and Almond farm founded in 1965), which is south of Modesto to come cook wonderful food for us. He did this out of his love for people and his love of bringing people pleasure by cooking for them. He asked for no reward or compensation for this generous action other than knowing that we enjoyed what he prepared for us. He was a generous man and a good friend. Once again, our condolences to his many friends and family members. As of this writing I have no details on Donald’s memorial service.

Both of these fine members of our accordion family will be sorely missed and remembered in our thoughts and prayers.

Tony Mustaro

President
Accordion Club of the Redwoods

Filed Under: Newsletter, September 2014

September 10, 2014

Entertainment, September 2014

ARTHUR SEEBACH

I like these tunes a lot. They take me through a range of emotions.

They make you feel happy and sad!! They move you. They have soul! Judge for yourself. I also played ‘Waltzing to Mongolia” and “The Drunken Sailor” I hope this helps. Waltzing to Mongolia.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wuNWYNSPr9Y

“The Ships are sailing” and “Toss the Feather” (both Edor). Sound is one semi tone lower than on the original video…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P26i_g_RjE4

“The King of the Fairies” a Scottish folk tune
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a-6UlEud-Gc

JANET FARRIS

“Snowtrain Shuffle” I chose that song because it is my husband’s favorite that I first played for him when I was 15 years old. He requested that I play it for the August 18 accordion club meeting.

“Rhythm in the Reeds” – I chose this song because it was composed by John Gart, the same composer who wrote Snowtrain Shuffle.

“Georgia on my Mind” – Chosen because it is a good arrangement, done by Ron Ostromecki, favorite accordionist arranger, engraver and just a fine person whom I have never met in person, but have gotten to know online. He did all of Frank Marocco’s engraving for the last number of years until his untimely death.

“By the Light of the Silvery Moon” – This is a very old (1945) arrangement by Robert Carreno that has stood the test of time. It remains a catchy arrangement even in our modern day times (2014). I bought this arrangement in about 1951, put it aside, and never learned it until recently.

“Perfidia” and “Quizas Quizas Quizas” both of these arrangements are by Gary Dahl. Dahl gives his arrangements a modern sound, some unusual chords, but they can be appreciated for their style and sound. His arrangements are available online under

http://www.musicforaccordion.com/inform/garydahl/index.htm

Note that Quizas…has the S at the end. My Spanish dictionary shows Quiza or Quizas meaning perhaps or maybe.

ELMO FAMA

Elmo gave a great foot tapping performance with his play list of”When You are Smiling”, “Whispering”, “Old Shanty Town”, “Marianna”, “You Belong to My Heart”, “Jealousy”, and lastly “Every Day of My Life”.

Elmo, you always deliver

KRIS NELSON

Kris sang “Because of You” with some emotion; it was his parents’ song, followed by “As Time Goes By”, then ended with “I Left My Heart in San Francisco”. Great selection and voice Kris!

PAULETTE HRUSKA

Paulette sang “Parlez Moi d’Amour” which translates to speak to me of love .The other one was “La Chanson du Bonheur “. When sung in English is “You Belong to My Heart”.

Let’s hear from you more often Paulette!

Filed Under: Newsletter, September 2014

Next Meeting April 15, Herman Sons – 860 Western Ave, Petaluma

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